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Dear Rosslyn Academy

Creativity is the power to think of something no one else has ever before: the power to create. And I used to be a kid overflowing with creativity.

During art class, if I were to create a monster of my choice, I didn’t have to think too hard for a brilliant monster to pop into my mind and just fill my mind all day with the powers it has.

During writing class, if I were to write a story and create a plot, it felt like a piece of cake. Each and every character’s name, history, and features would just automatically play out in my head, involuntarily directing and producing a movie in my head.

During my free time, if I were to play alone, playing make-believe was the easiest and most fun thing to do. I would cook with the plants and mud, creating a feast for my fellow animal friends. I would pretend to have powers and fight the shadows the nature created for me. I would dress up and perform a fashion show for my stuffed dolls and barbies. I would just have fun with what my mind created.

Because that’s what creativity is. Creativity is the juices one’s mind generates.

I have been in Rosslyn Academy for 10 of the 11 years of my school life. That one year I did not attend to Rosslyn Academy made me realize how great of a school it was and is. Though conservative, I realized that there was a lot of room left for leeway here and there.

Yet it had its constrictions because my brain does not create the same juices it used to when I was younger. The teachers only talk about facts

The teachers teach us something and there is nothing else but that. Yes, there are classes that allow room for debates and discussion times, which really helps, but that’s also based on facts; things we already know to be true.

We cannot create chemical solutions with our minds anymore. We have to actually and physically mix the real elements and observe the reactions created, not we create. We have to see the colors and smell the scent it creates instead of making it smaragdine that smells like boiled eggs seasoned with cinnamon. The class may give you a chance to hypothesize something, but if you hypothesize wrong, that’s a zero for that section no matter that the word hypothesis means.

We go to our English classes and when they want you to either make up a story or a poem, they also give you a structure it should follow. They also give you requirements for the storyline. We should have this type of thing happen to this amount of characters. There’s room for creativity, but only for some of it.

Challenging teachers have actually been my forte. I’ve just not been the most respectful challenger in the world, but teachers take it in different ways. Some totally disagree with the general idea of, “How dare you challenge me?” going on if they don’t say it directly. Yet there are also teachers who are willing to hear you out and actually learn from you, making it easier to learn from them.

Creativity is not black and white where it’s you come up with an idea or not. Creativity also includes thinking for yourself. And that is something Rosslyn Academy insists we do yet do not allow us to do.

For us, students, to understand the rules given, we must be able to question them and understand why those rules came to be. I have tried, yet I have only received dirty looks and hard times from the authority.

Here are a few examples:

Why does Mr. Dirk Jasperse not allow us to wear anything on our heads during class? When I asked him the first time, he just said it’s his rules and that’s that. The second time I asked, he said it was a sign of disrespect that he didn’t want in his classroom. But I personally think that being able to cover my greasy hair is respecting others. They don’t deserve to have that sight or odor near them.

Why does Mr. Dirk Jasperse not allow us to use our phones in his classroom in general? There are days I go to class early and just sit down with my phone in hand. He would come up to me and specifically ask to not use that device in his classroom. But why? Why or how does that effect him? It’s not even class time and it’s certainly not me laughing my butt off or calling someone really loudly.

Why does Mr. Dirk Jasperse not allow us to work on other class things in his classroom? Every Friday, he gives us a quiz to challenge the knowledge we obtained about Chemistry the past two weeks during first period. Once I’m done, I also had an AP Psychology quiz every day during second period. So I preferred to study for the quiz coming up in literally ten minutes instead of doing an assignment not due until the week after. Yet when I asked why, he said that it’s his classroom and his classroom is a Chemistry classroom.

Gee, thanks, Mr. Jasperse. Now I perfectly understand your rules and why you have them.

Like so, dear Rosslyn Academy, you should not just teach your students to think for themselves. You should allow it. Because right now, you’re telling us to be creative and locking us up in a small box.

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3 thoughts on “Dear Rosslyn Academy”

Hanny, I really like how you start this post by showing us the different ways that you were creative as a child. This allows the reader to get into your world and see little Hanny for the creator that she was. I also like how you show the difference between thinking for yourself and being creative. Thinking can just be thinking while creating is an act that is EITHER physical or mental. One part that I don’t quite understand is that, when you start talking about the lack of creativity in some of your classes, all you seem to discuss in the rules that one teacher has. Can’t creativity exist with limitations and rules? Is not having a phone is class really hampering your ability to think for yourself or be creative? hmm I don’t know. Other than that, there are a few proof reading errors such as lack of periods ending paragraphs and word choice errors. i would recommend proof reading this again. Another thing that I am wondering is that at the beginning, you mention that spending a year away from Rosslyn made you realize how good of a school it is however, when talking about Rosslyn classes, you seem rather negative. It just confused me. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to reading more of your work!

Hanny, this was a very thought-provoking post to read. I really like your stance on creativity and I agree with some of the aspects that you present in this post. It was also very interesting to see how creative you were as a child and that helped me to understand where you are coming from in this post. One thing that I would proofread is when you say, “We have to actually and physically mix the real elements and observe the reactions created, not we create”, in that second half , perhaps change that to “not the ones we create”. This was a wonderful post, Hanny. Well done!